Our 2008 saltwater fly fishing trip to Mexico  this year was as great as ever. Lots of fish, lots of sun, and lots of fun. Three of the gals arrived a day early and opted for some snorkeling. Then, we fished! We stayed at a different hotel this year, in hopes of being able to access its great beach fishing, but big wind and high surf made surf fishing nearly impossible. So, we settled for the excellent fishing we had on the boats, plus a day trip to the delightful city of La Paz. Most of the group did give the beach a try one morning when the wind didn’t seem too bad, but they mostly ended up with just a lesson on surf casting.

The group took turns fishing inshore from the super-pangas and off-shore from the cruisers. Everybody got fish no matter where they fished.   Donna #1 and Lori started the trip off with over thirty bonito, some skip-jack tuna, some jack cravalle, and what turned out to be the largest rooster fish of the trip during the first morning on the panga. The others were busy catching tuna, skip-jack, and dorado (mahi-mahi) from the cruisers. It was a great day and we celebrated with margaritas on the hotel’s gorgeous stone patio overlooking the blue water.

Some of the largest skip-jack tuna I’ve seen in a long while appeared on day two along with more dorado, and some sierra mackerel that we kept for delicious ceviche that went perfectly with the hotel’s warm, fresh from the oven chips that evening.  John, our consistent dorado-catcher, proved his skill again this year, and Cliff and his wife, Donna (#2) also had fun on the panga with lots of hook-ups of everything from sierra (which managed to cut off several of our flies with their sharp teeth) to skip-jack tuna, to another lovely rooster fish that Cliff landed.

There were lots of marlin around and both of the cruisers pursued them doggedly. After a 45-minute battle and some bruised and bloody fingers from using a reel that forced her to wind on the opposite side from what she preferred, Donna #1 brought her 80 pound fish to the boat!! It was both the greatest triumph of the trip, but also the largest disappointment---no one had a camera!

Our third boat day resulted in some very large dorado with both Sandy and Allison catching consistently. One fish sacrificed its life for our evening’s deep-fried fish fingers and a platter of absolutely fantastic sautéed fish that accompanied dinner. Sandy was credited with the largest dorado of the trip, and MJ with the largest skip-jack.

The seas calmed after the winds, but the bait fish were scattered so fishing was difficult our last day.  We cruised around from place to place finding only one fish here and there instead of the schools we were used to. Still, it was that day that MJ got another large skippie and we had a whale sighting. It was a great trip.

We’ve just set our dates for next year, so get on board now and plan to join us. Dates will be April 7-13, 2009. Price will be set in the fall, but we’ll hold a spot for you if you want to go along.